by David Capps
* * *
In the morning we completed the climb up to the cave.
“This is it?” the General asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “This is the entrance to the cave.”
The General divided his ten men into two groups, one on each side of the door as much as the narrow ledge would allow. Each was poised with their weapons aimed and ready to fire at anything that moved. He held out his arm and hand, indicating I should open the door. I took the medallion from around my neck and placed it into the small recess. I felt the vibrations in the ground and heard the rock wall begin to move. As the door opened the General’s men rushed into the cave with the lights on their weapons sweeping back and forth. The General held out his hand and motioned for me to give him the medallion. I handed it to him.
“It’s mine now,” he said. “Only I control access to the cave.” He motioned for me to enter the cave in front of him. After we stepped into the cave the rock door closed behind us. In the momentary darkness I could see the General’s men searching the cave with their lights. The ceiling lights came on automatically.
“Where’s the control center?” the General asked. I pointed down the left side corridor. Again he held out his hand motioning me to go in front of him. As we walked down the aisle I glanced at the alcove where the robot had been on our first visit to the cave. The alcove was empty. The sergeant approached.
“Still securing the cave, sir,” he reported. “It’s a lot larger than we thought it would be.”
“And there’re three more floors below this one,” the General said.
“Yes sir,” the sergeant replied. “It’s going to take some time.”
“We’ve got all the time in the world, don’t we Carl?” the General said as he looked at me. “The elevator?”
“I’ll need the medallion,” I replied holding my hand out.
“Of course you will,” the General said handing it back to me. “Just remember who it belongs to.”
I took the medallion and placed it into the small recess in the control center’s back wall. Immediately the display lit up with the multi-colored symbols. I walked over to the display and placed my finger close to the golden symbol the old guardian had used and moved it to the right. The sound of motors and equipment moving echoed from the back of the cave.
“Sergeant, take three men and start securing the lower floors,” the General said.
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant replied. He picked the three closest men and headed back to the elevator. As I glanced around the cave I noticed the light from one of the General’s men quietly went out on the other side of the cave.
“Ready, sir,” the sergeant called out. The General looked back at me. I reached up and moved the symbol to the left. The elevator started to descend. As I looked back across the cave, another light from one of the General’s men went out. The General seemed preoccupied with the lights on the display.
“They’re in different colors,” the General said. “What do they mean?”
“The gold symbols are commands for things in the cave,” I said. “The green ones are for communications equipment, blue is for historical information, red is for alarm monitors.”
“And you can read the symbols?” he asked. I saw another light from one of his men go out. There were only three more of his men left on this floor, plus the four on the lower floor. While the General was captivated by the display, he was unaware of what was happening to his men.
“Some of them,” I replied trying to keep his attention on the display screen. Actually I didn’t know what any of the symbols meant. I just remembered what the robot had used to get information from the display. Another light from one of the General’s men went out. Two left.
“For example,” as I started to make things up, “the cave is able to communicate all over the world using all available methods.”
“You mean it can receive secure radio transmissions from anywhere in the world?”
As I glanced past the General another light went out. One to go. “Yes, it can,” I replied.
The General’s expression changed from confidence to one of growing panic. “Can it receive burst transmissions?" he asked.
“Yes, it can,” I replied as the last light from his men went out.
“Then there’s an intelligence here?” the General asked, the level of panic rising in his face and his voice. “It knew we were coming?”
“It knew you were coming for me in Denver,” I replied.
“Breach!” the General yelled. “Security breach! Everyone respond!”
Silence.
“You little shit,” the General screamed, “you led me into a trap.” The General pulled his .45 semiautomatic pistol from his belt holster and aimed it at me. All I saw was a gray blur as the robot raced past the General and snatched the weapon out of his hand. The robot stopped at the side of the aisle and turned around, facing us. The General stared in astonishment at the robot as his mouth fell open. The General quickly searched his pockets for the remote control to the Taser collar before he remembered it was with his sergeant on the lower floor.
“Sergeant!” the General yelled.
Again, silence.
I placed the medallion around my neck and slid it under my shirt. I reached up and unbuckled the Taser collar, tossing it across the floor to the robot’s feet. The sound of a motor running and stone sliding against stone drew our attention to the control center. A door had opened in the side of the control center and the old guardian walked out into the aisle. The door closed behind him. He smiled as he looked at me and bowed slightly.
“So this is how it’s going to be?” the General said, “three against one?”
“No,” I replied, “it’s just you and me.”
I felt the rage rise quickly within me and felt the impulse to attack. I rushed at the General as he rushed at me. I raised my right fist and struck at the General’s face as we raced together. He pulled his head to his left side at the last second evading my punch just as his fist slammed into my face. The shock rattled my brain as I was thrown backward onto my back, sliding along the polished stone floor. The General leaped into the air, rage filling his face. In my mind I could see him landing on me, hands around my throat. I rolled to my right just enough for him to miss me as he landed. I continued rolling until I was under the edge of one of the machines. I scrambled through an opening in the machine as the General grabbed my leg. I started kicking him with my free leg as he dragged me out from under the machine. The pain in my face was throbbing and my vision was blurred.
“Come out and die like a man, you little chicken shit,” the General yelled.
As I lost my grip on the machine he yanked me into the aisle and threw me across the polished stone floor. I slid into the opposite stone wall. I felt stunned and disoriented. He grabbed me and pulled me to my feet. The next thing I knew he had his hands around my neck choking me, holding me above the floor. I couldn’t breathe. I looked over to the old guardian to see if he would help me.
The old guardian reached up and tapped his right ear twice with his index finger and then pointed to the center of his chest.
Listen to the medallion? No. Listen to my heart!
I looked at the General. He was filled with rage, blinded by his hatred and anger. I instantly knew what I had to do. With my last remaining strength I slapped both of my hands on the General’s ears as hard as I could. He yelled in pain and loosened his grip on my neck. I jammed my thumbs into his eyes, hard. He screamed in pain and dropped me to the floor. As I gasped for air I kicked him in the groin and rolled away from him on the floor. That seemed to knock the breath out of him as he collapsed backward onto the floor, groaning.
The General was six inches taller than I was and outweighed me by a good sixty pounds. I was no match for him physically. Ed’s words came back to me, ‘fight from inner peace, not anger or fear. Emotions will blind you. Stay calm and you will see what you need to do.’ John’s idea about power versus forc
e also came back to me. I couldn’t match the force the General had, but I had a power that could trump his superior level of force. I could sense his thoughts and his feelings. I could see what he was going to do before he could move.
We both slowly stood and faced each other.
“Not as easy as you thought?” I asked.
“I step on little pissants like you every day,” the General replied. “And I’m going to enjoy smearing your brains all over this stone floor. All you are to me is dead meat.”
With that the General rushed at me with his arms spread wide. His thought was to grab me whichever way I tried to move. Instead I dove forward and to the left, rolling into his feet. He tripped over my legs and fell hard on the stone floor. He rolled to his side and sprang back onto his feet, rushing me again before I could get fully to my feet. I dove again, this time to the right, but he caught my shirt in his strong grip. We spun around, the General rolling onto his side, grabbing me with his other hand and flinging me across the floor and into the stone wall again. He was up quickly again and closing in on me fast. I didn’t have time to get up so I pivoted my body around and swung my leg sideways at his knee as he reached for me. I heard a sharp crack as my ankle connected with the side of his left knee.
The general missed me with his hands and he smashed into the stone wall head first. I slid out from under him and stood up in the aisle, backing away from him. My ankle hurt, but would still support my weight. The General grabbed his knee, yelling out in pain. I realized that even though I could see what the General was going to do in my mind, I still couldn’t think of responses quickly enough to keep from getting hit and injured by him. It was only a matter of time before he would get me and I would die. I looked back at the old priest. He touched his ear and pointed to his chest again, his look more serious than before. What was I missing?
Before I could look back at the General I felt his presence closing in on me. I ducked and pivoted to the side just missing his swing at my head. I backed away from him and stopped. The General was limping now. The injury to his knee was slowing him down. But why had I moved when I didn’t even see him coming? Something else was working for me. I could feel his movements and something instinctive was allowing me to move without thinking. I realized it must be one of the bumps on the medallion. It was different from intuition. It was something almost primal, instinctive, yet it flowed easily within me.
The endless hours I spent playing Mortal Kombat, Naruto and other Martial Arts games came flooding back into my mind. I bounced from foot to foot and waved for him to come and get me. I could do this.
“Oh… so big and so strong,” I said, “and what, you’re going to let a little pissant like me beat you?”
“Like I said, kid, you’re just dead meat to me,” the General replied.
“Yeah?” I taunted. “Prove it.”
As the General came at me I bobbed from side to side ducking down and to the left at the last second. I dug my left foot into the floor using the momentum of my body to accelerate my right foot into the center of his chest. I could hear his ribs crunch as I connected and just as quickly snapped my leg back to keep him from grabbing it. I moved away from him toward the back of the cave. The General stumbled and turned, quickly rushing me again. I bobbed and weaved back and forth diving to the right as he reached me. I kicked with my left leg against his left knee again, which brought him to the floor while he let out a painful gasp.
I got up quickly and moved further down the aisle toward the back of the cave. As the fight between the General and I moved down the aisle the robot and the old guardian followed us toward the huge elevator pit. I bobbed and weaved and bounced my way further back into the cave as I tried to taunt the General into more anger and rage. But each time I hit the General his military training kicked in more. He became calm and focused, setting his anger aside; his only goal was to kill me as efficiently as possible. He moved slower and limped on his injured left knee. I could tell his breathing had become more painful and labored as the fight continued.
The General lunged forward, this time leading with his right leg. I anticipated him stopping his advance, trying to catch me as I dodged to the side. Instead I remained in place and punched him in the nose. I quickly backed off and stood only a foot from the drop-off into the elevator pit. I bobbed and weaved and bounced and taunted the General as I had before. He wasn’t buying it. He just stood there and starred at me, blood ran down his face and onto his neck. He then stepped forward slowly intent only on pushing me over the edge.
CHAPTER 34
I could sense the General’s plan was to get close enough to push me over the edge or to grab me if I dodged to either side and use his superior strength to throw me into the elevator pit. I didn’t have the body mass or the strength to withstand being shoved, so a dodge to one side or the other was my only option. Knowing his strength and speed he was going to get a hold of me whatever I did. As he closed in I desperately searched for any weakness that would allow me to escape. Finally I saw it. I dodged to my left and the General’s large right hand swung out to grab me. I pulled back and struck with the edge of my hand at the General’s thumb. His thumb bent backwards against his arm. As he yelled in pain he instinctively reached for me with his left hand. I struck at his left hand, catching his thumb with the palm of my hand, bending it back and dislocating it from its socket. I pivoted to the right and brought my left elbow down and sideways into the General’s injured knee. He collapsed on top of my legs and tried to grab onto me. But with his broken thumbs he couldn’t grip anything. I kicked and pulled my legs out from under him. I kicked him in the side of the head as I broke free. He rolled toward the edge of the elevator pit and teetered on the edge. He tried to get his balance, but before he could, I kicked him once more in the face, the momentum of my kick carried the General over the edge.
The General didn’t make a sound as he fell more than 200 feet to the stone floor of the elevator pit. The sickening thud echoed through the cave as everything else fell silent. I sat up, breathing hard and shaking at what I had just done. I had killed another human being. Something I had thought I was never capable of doing. The robot and the old guardian approached me and stood there waiting for me to recover. As I stood I removed the medallion from around my neck and handed it back to the old guardian.
“I have killed another human being,” I said. “I am not worthy to be the guardian.”
The old guardian smiled and began to talk. The robot translated.
“When we first came to the cave last year I knew you had the heart and soul to be the next guardian. When you offered yourself to the robot in order to save the rest of us I knew you had the courage you needed to be the next guardian. The only thing left to be determined was, were you willing and able to fight to the death to protect the secrets in the cave in order to save the lives of millions of innocent people you have never met.
“The men who died here today came to take what did not belong to them. They came with weapons to seize technology far beyond their capability to understand and use responsibly. They came with destruction and death in their hearts and they have received as they were prepared to give. The rules of engagement were theirs, not yours. You have performed with courage and righteousness. You have defended the cave and the old technology honorably. You have earned the right to be the next guardian and proven yourself worthy in every respect.”
The old priest once again placed the medallion around my neck and bowed before me. The tears flowed down my cheeks as I finally felt I was who I was supposed to be: the worthy guardian of all that was and what would one day be again.
I heard the elevator start and could sense the movement of air in the cave as it moved up to our level. As the elevator came to a stop I saw the Buddhist monks from the temple standing around the broken body of the General and the bodies of the four men who had descended earlier. I looked at the old guardian.
The robot spoke. “They live to serve and protect the old know
ledge. They, like you, put their lives on the line to protect what is here – each one willing to die in that process. As you travel back out into the world, you will be our first line of defense. They will be the last line of defense here in the cave. They are your brothers and you are theirs. It is an honor to have you as one of us.”
I turned toward the group of Buddhist monks still standing on the elevator platform and bowed to them. They bowed in return. It was the single greatest moment of my life. All that remained now was to get back home to Tia, John and Ed.
* * *
It was after eleven at night as I walked up to the front door of the building in Denver where we all stayed. The guard rushed over to me.
“Are you all right, sir?”
“I’m okay,” I replied.
He opened the front door for me and yelled, “Carl’s back.” Two other guards in the front room rushed over to me. It was a lot more attention than I was comfortable with. John came out of a second floor hallway to the railing that ran across the back of the main entry room.
“Carl, are you okay? We were so worried.”
Tia came out of the hallway, took one look at me and raced down the stairs, her robe flowing behind her like angel wings.
“Oh my God, Carl, what happened to you?” she said. “What happened to your face?”
John came down the stairs and Ed emerged from a door off the main entry room. As they gathered around me, John said, “Ed told us about what you were doing. What happened?”
I looked at Ed. “I finally confronted my past,” I said. “Thank you for your advice. It worked.”
Ed held out his hand. I took his hand, shook it and pulled him close to me and hugged him. It was the first time I had felt close enough and safe enough to do that, since I had gone to federal prison. I hugged John and then Tia. As I held her, the tears were flowing down both of our faces. It felt so good to be back with her again.